This invention relates to runway collisions avoidance systems, and more particularly, to systems and methods for detecting the presence and location of aircraft on the ground on and near airport runways.
In 1991, a commuter plane taxied onto a runway that was supposed to be clear for landings. In the maze of planes, controllers didn""t see it and neither did the pilot of an incoming jetliner. The two planes collided in a sea of crunching metal. In January of 1997, a DC-9 that was cleared to land at Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport on runway 5R noticed a commuter plane taxi into it path. The pilot of the DC-9 was able, just in time, to abort the landing and avoid colliding with the commuter plane. That near miss, known in aviation language as a xe2x80x9crunway incursionxe2x80x9d, was caused by simple pilot confusion. The commuter""s pilot had become confused, taken a wrong turn, and strayed onto the wrong runway. In the Fall of 2000, a Singapore Airlines jumbo jet crashed in Taipei during a heavy rainstorm. The plane had apparently tried to take off on the wrong runway and slammed into construction equipment being used to repair the strip. The jetliner crashed killing 81 of the 179 people aboard Flight SQ006 from Taipei to Los Angeles.
These are just three examples of a large number of runway incursions that happen every year. In two instances, the incursion was deadly, in another, loss of life was avoided only because of a pilot""s alert reaction.
One additional variable that adds to the possibility of a runway incursion is the visibility at the time of the incursions. Specifically, rain and fog can obscure pilot visibility thus increasing the chance of a mishap on the ground. Human factors can also contribute to ground mishaps. For example, perhaps an air traffic controller inadvertently gives erroneous instructions to a pilot, or, perhaps a pilot misunderstands the instructions or takes a wrong turn.
Whatever the cause, the potential loss of life due to runway incursions is huge. Such incursions are potentially devastating because of the numbers of passengers involvedxe2x80x94two sets of passengers, one from each plane. During the late 1990""s, runway incursions increased some 50%, according to at least one source. The problem of runway incursions will necessarily continue grow as air traffic in airports is expected to double in the coming years.
Accordingly, this invention arose out of concerns associated with providing systems and methods for detecting the presence of and locating aircraft on the ground at airports.
Airplane ground location methods and systems are described. In one embodiment, a ground location evaluator includes one or more interrogators. Individual interrogators are configured to receive wireless communication from multiple airplanes that are located on the ground at an airfield. Multiple location transmitters or transceivers are provided and each is mounted on an airplane. Individual location transmitters or transceivers are configured to wirelessly communicate with the one or more interrogators. The ground location evaluator is configured to process the wireless communication to ascertain the location of communicating airplanes and responsive thereto, determine whether there is a likelihood of a runway incursion.